Georges Jules Victor Clairin (11 September 1843, Paris – Pouldu, Clohars-Carnoët 2 September 1919) was a French Orientalist painter and illustrator. He was influenced by Eastern imagery Moorish architecture, and visited North Africa many times, in particular Algeria, Morocco and Egypt. In Paris he led the life of a socialite, and befriended the glamorous actress Sarah Bernhardt, his friend for 50 years, and is today best known for his 'in costume' and informal intimate portraits of her.Georges-Jules-Victor Clairin
. M.S. Rau Antiques, New Orleans. Retrieved 7 June 2014

Life

Clairin was apprenticed in the workshops of

Isidore Pils Isidore-Alexandre-Augustin Pils (1815–1875) was a French academic painter of religious and military subjects. Biography Pils was born in Paris as the son of a soldier François Pils. At the age of twelve, he studied with Guillaume Guillon-Le ...

and

François-Édouard Picot François-Édouard Picot (; 10 October 1786 in Paris – 15 March 1868 in Paris) was a French painter during the July Monarchy, painting mythological, religious and historical subjects. Life Born in Paris, Picot won the Prix de Rome painti ...

. In 1861 he entered the

École des beaux-arts de Paris The Beaux-Arts de Paris is a French ''grande école A ''grande école'' () is a specialised university that is separate from, but parallel and often connected to, the main framework of the French public university system. The grandes écoles ...

, and in 1866 first displayed his work. He travelled to Spain with

Henri Regnault Alexandre Georges Henri Regnault (31 October 1843 – 19 January 1871) was a French painter. Biography Regnault was born in Paris, the son of Henri Victor Regnault. On leaving school he successively entered the studios of Antoine Montfort, Lou ...

and to Italy with

François Flameng François Flameng (1856–1923) was a notable French painter during the last quarter of the 19th century and the first quarter of the 20th. He was the son of Léopold Flameng, a celebrated printmaker, and received a first-rate education in his c ...

and

Jean-Léon Gérôme Jean-Léon Gérôme (11 May 1824 – 10 January 1904) was a French painter and sculptor in the style now known as academicism. His paintings were so widely reproduced that he was "arguably the world's most famous living artist by 1880." The ra ...

. He met the Catalan painter

Marià Fortuny Marià Josep Maria Bernat Fortuny i Marsal (; es, Mariano José María Bernardo Fortuny y Marsal; June 11, 1838 – November 21, 1874), known more simply as Marià Fortuny or Mariano Fortuny, was the leading Spanish painter of his day, with an ...

in Morocco and they visited

Tétouan Tétouan ( ar, تطوان, tiṭwān, ber, ⵜⵉⵟⵟⴰⵡⴰⵏ, tiṭṭawan; es, Tetuán) is a city in northern Morocco. It lies along the Martil Valley and is one of the two major ports of Morocco on the Mediterranean Sea, a few miles so ...

together. In 1895, he travelled to Egypt with the composer Camille Saint-Saëns. He is best known for his portraits of Sarah Bernhardt, with whom he had a long friendship and whom he depicted in costume for a number of her roles, including as the queen in ''

Ruy Blas ''Ruy Blas'' is a tragic drama by Victor Hugo. It was the first play presented at the Théâtre de la Renaissance and opened on November 8, 1838. Though considered by many to be Hugo’s best drama, the play was initially met with only average ...

'' (1879), Mélisande in '' La Princesse Lointaine'' (1895 and 1899), Cleopatra (1900), Theodora (1902) and Saint Teresa of Ávila; he also showed her in less formal poses. Clairin painted many ceilings, among them the foyers of the

Opéra Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

(1874) and the Le Trident, the theatre of Cherbourg. He was the uncle of the painter . Sarah Bernhardt Clairin Henderson

Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt, 1876

Clairin's 1876 portrait of Sarah Bernhardt drew praise. Théodore Véron said of it:

Emile Zola Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *'' Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *'' Emil and the Detecti ...

found that: "Mademoiselle Sarah Bernhardt isn't pretty but she has fine intelligent features and Clairin has been able to give her a smooth little face and vulgar sensuality like Cabanel would paint."Mlle Sarah Bernhard n'est pas jolie, mais elle a des traits fins et intelligents dont Clairin n'a su faire qu'un minois régulier et vulgairement sensuel tel que le peindrait un Cabanel "( Salon de 1876)

Works

* ''Entrée à la mosquée du Chérif de Ouassam'' (1875) * ''Les Favorites du sultan'' (1875) * '' À l'extérieur du harem'' (1875) * ''Portrait de Sarah Bernhardt'' (1876) * ''Les brûleuses de varech à la Pointe du Raz'' (1882) * ''Danseuse Ouled-Naïl'' (1885) * ''L'Asie, L'Afrique'' (1889), Bourse de commerce de Paris * ''Le Carnage'' (1890),

Princeton University Art Museum The Princeton University Art Museum (PUAM) is the Princeton University gallery of art, located in Princeton, New Jersey. With a collecting history that began in 1755, the museum was formally established in 1882, and now houses over 113,000 works o ...

* ''Frou-Frou'' (1892) * ''Fête fleurie'' * ''Au balcon'' * ''À l'opéra'' * ''Portrait d'

Alexandre Dumas fils Alexandre Dumas (; 27 July 1824 – 27 November 1895) was a French author and playwright, best known for the romantic novel '' La Dame aux Camélias'' (''The Lady of the Camellias''), published in 1848, which was adapted into Giuseppe Verdi's ...

'' * ''Soldats français devant le temple de

Karnak The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Constr ...

'' (1897) * ''Sarah Bernhardt en Cléopâtre'' (1900) * ''Retour des conscrits (désert d'Égypte)'' (1900) * ''Marché à Madrid'' (1907) shown at the salon * ''La Fantasia au Maroc'' (1907) shown at the salon * ''Allah ! Allah !'' (1908) shown at the salon * ''Au lever du soleil, les moissonneurs arabes font leur prière'' (1909) shown at the salon * ''Portrait de M. Terace à cheval, ministre de France à

Tanger Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the ca ...

'' File:Georges Jules Victor Clairin Galantes Paar an der Meeresküste.jpg, ''A galant couple'' from c. 1919 File:Clairin - An Ouled Nail Tribal Dancer.jpg, ''An Ouled Nail Tribal Dancer'', 1895 File:Clairin - On the Balcony.jpg, ''On the Balcony'', c. 1910 File:Clairin, Georges Jules Victor - La Fete.jpg, ''La Fête fleurie'' File:Clairin - Ophelia.jpg, ''Actress in the role of

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama '' Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends u ...

'' File:Clairin At the Opera.jpg, ''At the Opera'', c. 1900 File:Georges Jules Victor Clairin - Spanish Woman on Balcony.jpg, ''Spanish Women on Balcony'' File:Clairin - Elegant Ladies Fishing.jpg, Sarah Bernhardt File:Clairin Walk in the Wood.jpg, ''Walk in the Woods'', c. 1900 File:Georges-Jules-Victor Clairin - Frou Frou, 1882.jpg, ''Frou Frou'', 1882 File:Clairin Opera.jpg, ''À l'opéra'', or ''At the Opera'', c 1900 File:Georges-Clairin-A-Lake-With-Naiads.jpg, ''A lake with Naiads'', c 1900 File:Clairin, Georges Jules Victor - The distant Princess - 1899.JPG, ''The distant Princess'', c 1900 File:Clairin - Jeune femme a reveillon.jpg, ''Young woman in the morning'', 1909

Notes and references

Bibliography

* Christine Peltre, ''Dictionnaire culturel de l'orientalisme'', Éditions Hazan, Paris, 2008

External links

* Discussion of ''Portrait of Sarah Bernhardt'' by

Janina Ramirez Janina Sara Maria Ramirez (; ' Maleczek; born 7 July 1980), sometimes credited as Nina Ramirez, is a British art historian, cultural historian, and TV presenter. She specialises in interpreting symbols and examining works of art within their hi ...